How to Find Google Analytics

Trying to find your Google Analytics login and make sense of the dashboard can feel overwhelming, especially when you just want a simple answer to "who is visiting my website?" You're not alone. This guide will walk you through exactly how to find and access your account, check if it's properly installed, and locate the key reports you actually need.

First Things First: Logging into Google Analytics

Before you can analyze any data, you need to get into your account. If your website has Google Analytics installed, it’s connected to a specific Google account (like a Gmail address).

How to Log In

Your journey starts at the Google Marketing Platform.

1. Go to https://marketingplatform.google.com/about/analytics/.
2. Click the "Sign in to Analytics" button.
3. Log in using the Google account credentials you believe are associated with the account. If you have multiple Google accounts, you might need to try more than one.

If you successfully log in and see your website's name and data, you’re in! If not, don’t worry - here are a few ways to find the right account.

Can't Find Your Account? Try These Steps.

So you've logged in, but you see a welcome screen asking you to set up a new account. This means the Google account you used isn't connected to an existing Google Analytics property. Here’s what to do next:

• Think about who set up the website. Did a developer, freelancer, or marketing agency build your site? They most likely created the Analytics account and can grant you access. Simply send them an email asking for "Admin" access to your Google Analytics account via your business email address.
• Search your email archives. Check all your email accounts for messages from "Google Analytics." Look for a setup confirmation email or an "invitation to access" email. This will tell you which email address the account is tied to.
• Try every possible Google account. Many business owners have multiple Google accounts - a personal one, a business one, an old one from a previous project. Cycle through each one to see if you can find access.

Getting access is often the biggest hurdle, so be patient and methodical. Once you're in, the next step is to make sure it's actually collecting data for your site.

How to Check if Google Analytics is on Your Website

Finding your account is one thing, confirming that your tracking code is properly installed and collecting visitor data is another. An incorrectly installed code means you're flying blind. Here are three simple methods to verify your setup.

Method 1: Check Your Website's Source Code

This sounds technical, but it’s surprisingly easy. The Google Analytics tracking code is a small snippet of JavaScript that needs to be present on every page of your site. Here’s how to find it:

1. Open your website in a browser like Chrome or Firefox.
2. Right-click anywhere on the page and select "View Page Source" (or "Show Page Source").
3. A new tab will open with a lot of code. Don’t get intimidated! Press Ctrl + F (on Windows) or Cmd + F (on Mac) to open a search box.
4. Type gtag.js into the search box.

If you see a block of code that references gtag.js and includes an ID that looks something like G-XXXXXXXXXX, congratulations! Your Google Analytics 4 tracking code is present on that page. If you search for it and nothing comes up, the code is likely missing, and you’ll need to add it via your website's settings (in platforms like Shopify, Squarespace, or WordPress) or have your developer do it.

Method 2: Use a Browser Extension

If looking at code isn't for you, there are free browser extensions that do the work for you. The most popular one is Google's own Tag Assistant.

1. Go to the Chrome Web Store and search for "Tag Assistant Legacy (by Google)."
2. Add the extension to your browser.
3. Navigate to your website and click the new Tag Assistant icon in your browser's toolbar.
4. Click "Enable" and then refresh the page.
5. Click the icon again. It should show detected tags. You’re looking for a "Google Analytics" tag with your Measurement ID (e.g., G-XXXXXXXXXX) listed. A green or blue icon indicates it’s working correctly. A red icon means there's an issue with the installation.

This is an excellent and quick way to diagnose a non-working Google Analytics connection.

Method 3: The Real-Time Report Test

This is the most definitive way to confirm that Google Analytics is not only installed but actively recording visits.

1. Log in to your Google Analytics account.
2. On the left-hand navigation menu, go to Reports > Realtime.
3. Keep that tab open. In a new browser window (or on your phone), visit your website’s homepage.
4. Switch back to the Google Analytics Realtime report. Within a minute, you should see the "Users" count jump to at least 1, and on the map, a dot may appear representing your location.

If you see yourself pop up in the Realtime report, you can be 100% certain that your analytics is working. If you don't appear after a minute or two, there is an issue with your tracking code setup.

Navigating Key Reports in Google Analytics 4

Now that you're in and know it's working, where do you find the information you need? Google Analytics 4 (the latest version) organizes reports differently than the old Universal Analytics. Let's focus on the essentials.

Most of the foundational reports are located under the Reports tab in the left sidebar. This area is broken down into a few helpful categories:

Acquisition: Where Are Your Visitors Coming From?

The Acquisition reports answer one of the most important marketing questions: "How did people find my website?"

• Navigate to Reports > Acquisition > Traffic acquisition.

This report breaks down your website traffic by "Session default channel group." This may sound complicated, but it's really just a way of categorizing your traffic sources. Here's what the most common ones mean:

• Organic Search: Visitors who found you by searching on Google, Bing, etc., and clicking a standard (non-ad) link.
• Direct: Visitors who typed your website URL directly into their browser or used a bookmark.
• Organic Social: Visitors who came from a non-ad link on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn.
• Referral: Visitors who clicked a link to your site from another website (e.g., a blog that mentioned your business).
• Paid Search: Visitors who clicked on one of your paid ads (e.g., a Google Ad).

Use this report to see which channels are your all-stars and which ones might need more attention.

Engagement: What Are Visitors Doing on Your Site?

The Engagement reports tell you how users are interacting with your content once they arrive.

• Navigate to Reports > Engagement > Pages and screens.

This is one of the most valuable reports for any website owner. It shows you a list of your pages ranked by the number of "Views." Here, you can quickly identify:

• Your most popular blog posts or articles.
• Which service pages get the most attention.
• Content that may be underperforming.

Look at the "Average engagement time" metric as well. A high number of views is great, but a high engagement time indicates that people are actually reading and spending time with your content.

User Attributes: Who Are Your Visitors?

Understanding your audience demographic helps you create better content, targeted marketing campaigns, and a better overall user experience.

• Navigate to Reports > User > User attributes > Demographic details.

This report gives you a breakdown of your audience by:

• Country
• City
• Gender
• Age

Quick note: You may need to enable "Google signals" in your GA4 property settings to collect this demographic data. If the report is empty, that's likely the first place to check.

Knowing that a significant portion of your traffic comes from a specific country or age group can completely change your marketing strategy.

Final Thoughts

Finding your Google Analytics, confirming it's working, and learning to read the foundational reports is a huge first step toward making data-informed decisions for your business. By regularly checking where your traffic comes from (Acquisition), what content they love (Engagement), and who they are (Demographics), you’ve moved from guessing to knowing.

While Google Analytics is fantastic for understanding website behavior, it’s just one data source among many. To truly see how your Google Ads are driving sales on Shopify, or how your HubSpot email campaigns relate to website traffic, things can get complicated fast. We created Graphed to solve this. Instead of a dozen open tabs and manual spreadsheet work, you can connect all your tools in minutes and just use plain English to build dashboards. For example, just ask, "Show me a chart of my top traffic sources from Google Analytics this month," and we'll instantly visualize the answer, allowing you to get insights in seconds, not hours.